Plate thickness, kerf, and riving knife wrt G0661 table saw

Their description does seem “awkward”. As long as the blade is at least as thick as the riving knife/splitter, it should be fine, so any 1/8” full kerf and many 3/32” TK’s will work. Getting a blade that’s thinner than the riving knife could cause binding. Fortunately, most 3/32” TK blades are in the 0.094 to 0.100 range, then there’s usually a bit of runout to widen the actual cut a tad more. You’ll need to be a bit more careful about choosing a TK blade, but the majority of them should work fine….no “ultra” TK’s or 7-1/4” blades with that riving knife. I could be out in left field, but I’ve never even given plate thickness a second thought in blade selection ....total kerf thickness (tooth width) is the critical spec. Alignment is critical too, so take your time with the setup.

Please reply back when you get the saw up and running…..it’d be nice to get some hands on feedback on that particular model.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Listen to Knotscot. You may need to adjust laterally for thin kerf. I make sure that my splitter (not riving knife) is set even with the fence side of my blade. Never had a prob, but I’m nuttsy about splitters and guards, etc. I even recheck periodically. I REALLY like my fingers.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

Knottscott,
When you say [“as long as the blade is at least as thick as the riving knife/splitter, it should be fine, so any 1/8” full kerf and many 3/32” TK’s will work. Getting a blade that’s thinner than the riving knife could cause binding”], you are speaking in terms of kerf when you refer to thick/thinness right? Not blade plate thickness? Thanks for the replies all. I called grizzly tech support and read the specs to the the tech. and he agreed they are some weird numbers. He actually opened a case file to find out what the proper guidance is for questions like mine. I will keep this post updated for those that have this saw.

As far as the saw I’ve had it since Feb. 2012. So far this is a sweet machine.
- There is definitely no Craftsman factor when it comes to HP on this machine, it is a little beast
- Setup was pretty nice. The only hairy part was getting the miter slot adjusted to the blade. I ended up loosening bolts in just the right places and using any lever I had on hand to move the table (in my case, a piece of 1/2” conduit :)
- Dust really flies up in my face and all over the place, especially with plywood. The caveat here is I’m only using my shopvac as DC right now. This thing has a dust shroud on the lower part of the blade. I’m sure a true DC would help, but just not sure how much.
- I like the fence. The Al faces are nice IMO. It has a low profile, locks down tight and square, and it’s easy to adjust with set screws. One little annoyance mentioned by Dustin in his Amazon review of this saw was that the screws that hold the tape cursor on the left side of the fence were just a hair proud of the table. Who uses a fence on the left side of the blade anyway (left-tilt machine)? I just filed and buffed the screws down a bit and problem was solved.

Dust flying in your face? Where’s your blade guard. You’ll get some top “spray” with any saw unless ya have one of the guards with DC fittings, but don’t use yours w/o the guard. Too many amputations that way.
I’m sure that there will be those who argue the point, but I’m a wuss.
Glad that you’re happy w/ your purchase.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

”...you are speaking in terms of kerf when you refer to thick/thinness right? ”...

Kerf is the width of the cut, which is largely dictated by tooth width of the blade (plus total runout from the blade and saw)

Thanks for the summary of the saw.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

I spoke with grizzly. They informed me that the specs. have changed for GO661. Riving Knife thickness is now 0.100” allowing any type of full kerf blade to be used. Although this now makes TK blades harder to use. Maybe a Tenyru blade would be a good choice for this saw.

A riving knife width of 0.100” would rule out many 3/32” TK’s…which is really too bad. The 40T Tenryu Gold Medal blade (GM25540) used to have a mid kerf width of ~ 0.111”, but I believe they changed it to 0.125” full kerf (made in Japan). I don’t know if they now offer a more standard 0.098” TK with that series also. Their Rapid Cut series (RS25540 made in China…usually < $40) had a kerf width of 0.118”, so you really need to check each one (true of any blade).

The Delta 35-7657 is considered full kerf, but used to be on the smaller side of that scale @ ~ 0.118”.....< $30 shipped from Cripe or Peach Tree ...really nice deal on a very good American made blade.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

What are your thoughts on going with a good combo full kerf and have a dedicated ripper and crosscut? But still, I’d like the option of a TK should I find the above isn’t working well. Wish grizz would just make a tk and full kerf riving knife for this saw…

Here are most of my thoughts on blades….Tips for picking saw blades

Most riving knives aren’t hard to duplicate…..just use something like 0.085” to 0.090” stock and use the original as a template.

(Love your sig line…..smart man!)

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Sweet thanks for that write up!